


Out of gas

by PatriziaNordsee



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Yuletide 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 06:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8879263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PatriziaNordsee/pseuds/PatriziaNordsee
Summary: It December the 22nd and pregnant Katniss and Peeta get stuck in a snow drift and ran out of gas on their way to Prim.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [merciki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/merciki/gifts), [Xerxia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xerxia/gifts).



> Written for Day 1 of the Yuletide in Panem: 12 Days of Christmas challenge on Tumblr.  
> Beta reader: @xerxia31 (who had a hell of a job, thank you)  
> Support and encouragement from: @thegirlfromoverthepond aka Merciki  
> Here it goes. My very first HG fanfiction story. If you find an mistake - they all mine. English is not my first language - sadly.

## Out of gas

2015, December the 22nd, 5 pm, District 12, North America  


It could have been the headlights of a bicycle, a motorbike or of a flashlight, that was coming their way. 

He wasn't certain. The light was moving up and down, from left to right and back. It almost looked as if the light was dizzy or drunk. 

And it came closer. Slowly but steadily. 

There was one thing he was sure about - the light was important. 

Peeta decided to not close his eyes again, even when he was really tired. When he had opened them the last time he thought he was imagining things. Flashes outside of the car. Snowflakes that lumped on the windshield. He didn’t know what was real and what not. Of course, that could happen when you are sitting in a car on a winter afternoon, without heat, in a snow storm - couldn't it? He hadn't slept for the last day and a half, and he felt it in his bones. To boot, he was afraid too. Because they were out of gas too. Stuck in a snowdrift and out of gas. His mother would have a field day if she knew. But she didn’t and she never would. That old hag. 

But back to the light, right now he was pretty sure that someone was coming their way. That meant help. And that was good. That was better than good. Peeta turned slowly around in his driver seat to the only other occupant of the old car. Katniss was laying on the backseat under a mountain of blankets and an old sleeping bag. Pillowing her face on her hand. Only her nose and her eyes could be seen. Her nose was red and her eyes closed. She was asleep, finally. He wouldn't wake her up until he had proof that there was help nearby. While he tried to rub a spot on the windshield so that he could see a little bit more of the nearing light his cellphone started to vibrate. 

He took it out of his pocket. He had silenced it earlier when he had noticed that Katniss had fallen asleep. Now he looked at the incoming text. 

"Almost there" was the SMS Prim wrote. "Clearing the way." 

So he had not been mistaken. There was help. It was as if a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders. 

Because he’s known the whole time that it was his fault. Like his bitch of a mother always told him. But he would make it up to Katniss. Katniss would get into a warm house during the next hour. She would get to a place to become warm and dry, to take care of her needs, a place to bear their child. It hadn't gone unnoticed by him that the backseat had started to smell funny, kind of sweet. She might have thought that she had peed her pants. But it wasn’t urine he smelled. He guessed that Katniss was leaking out so to speak. That she was losing amniotic fluid. He had paid close attention during the prenatal classes. Losing amniotic fluid meant it was important that Katniss give birth in the next 48 hours. She would need all the help she could get, especially if she wasn’t having contractions. 

But maybe she had, and he didn’t know. He had promised that he wouldn’t leave her side. And he had no intention of breaking his promise. 

While he waited for Prim, it got colder and colder. But something funny happened in front of their car. The single light got company. Large steady lights. They came closer and he started to hear the engine of a large vehicle. A snowplow. 

He felt utterly relieved when the light of a flashlight shone into the car, held by the gloved hand of a petite woman. Prim and her friends had found them. 

Earlier in 2015, December the 21st, 11:45 pm, Capitol City, North America  


"Peeta, Peeta, wake up." Katniss was shaking his shoulder. She wasn’t lying at his side like he was used to, but sitting on the edge of the bed. 

His reaction was immediate. He was out of their bed, trying to put on his jeans while grabbing for his cell phone to call the clinic. "It’s the baby, isn't it? Please put on your shoes, I'll grab the bag and bring the car to the front door. Then I’ll be back." 

"Wait, no. Peeta wait. It's not the baby. Don't you smell something strange?" Katniss stopped his way to the door of their one bedroom apartment. 

He sniffed. Katniss was right. Smoke. Had he been awake, he would have smelled it by himself. Katniss, who had trouble sleeping for more than a couple of hours without the need to use the bathroom, was right. Fire! 

"Katniss, that’s fire. We need to leave!" Peeta tried to grab her hand but she was already trying to slip into her boots, the only shoes she could put on herself without help. 

And then they were on their way out of the apartment, out of the building, Peeta dialing 911 on his cell phone, while Katniss remembered to grab her handbag and the one packed for hospital. 

Their apartment building was kind of shabby. What could you expect when you could barely pay rent? 

Build in the seventies, it had seen better days. But there was no chance, if he interpreted the fire right, that is would see another daylight. 

It had been home for a couple of days. They had even tried to decorate festively because of the coming holidays. Christmas - they had argued if they should take Prim up on her offer to stay with her. In district 12, where she had moved after she had finished her education to become a medic. Katniss was determined to drive, even when she was expecting their child. She had argued that Prim was more than skilled enough to help her with the childbirth. Peeta has been afraid because it implied that Katniss had to travel by car for some hours over roads he declared not save enough in winter. 

While they waited for the fire brigade to arrive, other occupants of the apartment building joined them. 

"We thought for sure that you had already left for the holidays, didn't we Sen?" The shrill voice of Cashmere Crane, first floor right side. If Katniss wasn’t occupied with her bags and the coat Peeta tried to help her into she would have shaken her head at the woman who was trying to apply lipstick with the help of a small mirror, while standing in front of a burning building. Her hands were a little bit unsteady - must be the small bottle of vodka she had stored in her purse. She had taken a swig every now and then since the had left the building. Cashmere’s husband, Seneca Crane, was a boastful dimwit who thought that the good old times he had with his wife in the mayor's mansion were in the past and wouldn’t come back. He acted like his wife was the most wonderful person in Panem. Every second sentence started with "My wife, Cashmere, who is the beloved niece of the late mayor Coriolanus Snow….. . Like anybody could forget the name of that bully. After he died of food poisoning, a lot of people pushed their way into the next pub to announce free beer for everybody. And Cashmere here, she was cheating on her husband with 50% of the male occupants of their building. The other half were either not interested (Peeta), gay (Brutus) or too drunk to notice her offers (Marvel). 

Katniss began to search for her cellphone in her handbag. It would be a good idea to call Prim, to ask her what she would suggest what they should do. She was always the more levelheaded in her family. 

"If we had known that you were here, we would have knocked on your door, Peeta dear!" Clove the needy soul from the first floor left side. She tried to undo some buttons on her pajama top with her right hand while the left found its way to her hip, posing like a model. It was kind of sad. She was a lonely soul who didn’t understand that the best way to happiness wasn’t to steal another woman's boyfriend. 

"Hey Katniss, new look?" Cato smirked, pointing to her combo of sweatpants, pajama top and winter boots, while he simultaneously tried to take a swig out of a bottle of booze and light a cigarette. That itself wasn't an easy task, but it didn’t help that Cato was drunk as a skunk. So he lost his footing in a small snowdrift and landed with a smack facedown on the boardwalk, while water from the fire hoses pooled under him. Katniss thought that it served him right. The fire had started in his apartment. She could imagine that it was Cato not being careful of his lit cigarette while watching porn. 

Katniss decided she’d had enough of the antics of her neighbors. "I'll call Prim, see if we can spend the next days with her." 

"Yes, please." Peeta knew that was their only chance. And Prim was an ongoing medic. So she was the best help possible when Katniss went into labor and offered them a place to stay too. He sent a text message with the new address to Haymitch, who was be the only one in Capitol City who would care. 

To stay at his mother's place wasn’t an option. Only when hell freezes over he would allow his mother anywhere near Katniss again. 

2015, December the 22nd, very early morning, Capitol City, North America 

"We can drive to Prim. She said it is not a problem. Maybe it's kind of a good thing, that now Prim will be able to help me deliver." Katniss closed her cell phone and sighed in relief. 

"Thank god. I’ll be happy when we can leave this town behind. There is nothing we can do here." Peeta took the two bags Katniss had kept close to her feet. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to steal from people who had already lost almost everything to a house fire. "The firefighter said that there is danger of collapse." He tried to push his sweat-matted hair out of his eyes. "This is the first time I am relieved that everything we really own is in these bags. 

"And thank god for a GPS app. I have no clue where to find Prim. She texted me the point of destination and I copied it into the app. Now all we have to do is drive to District 12, find the land settlement where she and Thresh are living and bingo." 

A couple of minutes later they were on their way. First stop; find an open gas station so they wouldn’t run out of gas. And buy some water for Katniss to drink during their trip to Prim. 

2015, December the 22nd, early morning, somewhere in the State of Panem, North America 

"Peeta, the weather forecast says a temperature drop to -5 °F is expected, along with snowfall and storms." Katniss’s small face paled. 

"In the Antarctic?" Peeta tried to joke. 

"Here." Katniss gulped. “It is here.” 

At least they knew the way to Prim. What could happen on a one and a half hour drive? 

“Modification of route.” The female voice of the GPS app happily announced. “Take the exit 12b and follow the country road P1211 for the next 15 miles.” 

Katniss groaned. She had jinxed it. 

2015, December the 22nd, morning, somewhere in the State of Panem (Nobody knows where exactly), North America 

"Peeta, I am thinking I’ll get car sick if we continue to drive right, left, right left, … I have never seen so many bypasses in my whole life." 

"Me neither. Do I need to slow down, so you can …. You know, toss your cookies?" 

"Yes, please. When someone tells you that you can get morning sickness only in the first month of the pregnancy, hold him down. I want to beat him with a shovel. I started to vomit at week 2 and it hasn’t stopped yet." 

Peeta stopped the car at the next possible place and Katniss climbed out to relieve herself – so to speak. 

The snowfall got heavier by the minute. 

2015, December the 22nd, lunchtime, somewhere in the State of Panem (Nobody knows where exactly), North America 

"Peeta, slow down. I think that could be a gas station. I need to pee, and maybe we could buy more gas and contact Prim. She will be afraid by now. She expected us hours ago. And I can't call her while we are using this shitty app." Katniss tried unsuccessfully to quit the app. She couldn’t bear to hear the voice of those woman any longer. 

"They are closed." Peeta tried to knock the snow from his boots when he climbed into the driver seat. 

There was a note that they closed because of the snow storm. So no restroom and no gas. 

"No gas?" Katniss looked forlorn. 

"No gas," Peeta admitted. "But there is at least a quarter left in the tank. 

"Can you at least drive to a place where I can take care of my other business." Katniss sounded almost desperate. 

"Next copse of trees is yours. I'll help you with your clothes this time." Peeta tried to put Katniss’s mind at ease. 

2015, December the 22nd, early afternoon, somewhere in the State of Panem (Nobody knows where exactly), North America 

Whammmmm. 

The contact of the front bumper with the snowdrift came not only unexpectedly, but fiercely too. Katniss was thrown forward in her seat, as if an invisible hand had taken her upper body and shoved. Her lower body had been secured by the seat belt. Peeta's knees made hard contact with the steering wheel, and for a few minutes he thought that he saw stars. 

They had started to drive rather slowly when they noticed the snowflakes beginning to clump together due to the wind that had started to blow harder by the minute. It was hard to see the landmarks or the names of the hamlets that were promised on the left or right side of the rural road. So when they hit the snowdrift they couldn’t have been going faster than 20 miles per hour. Their luck. 

Katniss loosened her seatbelt and grabbed for the cellphone that had used the opportunity to take flight into the legroom in front of Katniss’s seat. 

"You have reached your destination!" the chipper, female voice of the app announced. The voice output had used the chance to get activated again. 

That was the moment Katniss started to laugh. Hysterically and hard. 

"You could say that." Peeta look at Katniss. " Are you ok? Did you hurt yourself?" He had to swallow, "Or the baby?" 

"No, no, nothing happened." She reached over to palm his face. "But right now would be a good time to send an SOS to Prim." Katniss began to push buttons on her cell phone to quiet the obnoxious voice of the app, and to call her sister. "She will know what to do. Even though she is a couple of years younger than I, she has always been the more adult one.” 

2015, December the 22nd, afternoon, somewhere in the State of Panem (Nobody knows where exactly but everyone hopes it’s near district 12), North America 

"So Katniss, what is it that you always wanted to tell me and never had the time. I mean, here we are, waiting for the cavalry with nothing else to do." Peeta tried to lighten the mood. 

"Now, mister," Katniss joked, "That’s rather personal. I don't know if I want to share my deepest and darkest secrets with you while we are stuck in a snowdrift, are almost out of gas and I am in desperate need of a bathroom." 

"Or we could start singing Christmas carols," Peeta continued. "And I don't know if it is such good idea if you leave the car right now to pee beside the road. And I am afraid when I turn off the engine, it won’t start again. Then the heater would be gone too." 

"Too late. I think my pants are a little wet. Not much. But now I don’t need a restroom anymore." 

"Well then you have to stay warm. Wet and warm is better than wet and cold," Peeta reasoned. "You need to stay on the backseat so you can climb into the sleeping bag and cover yourself with the blankets." 

Katniss gave him a patented scowl but had to accept that he was right. So she levered the backrest of her seat and climbed onto the back. "At least you forgot to sing Christmas songs," she mumbled. 

"Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer has a very shiny nose … " Peeta teased. 

"And if you ever saw it" Katniss continued to Peeta's delight, "You would even say it glows." 

"All of the other reindeer," Katniss and Peeta sang together, Peeta while he tried to hide that his knees were hurt by the impact and Katniss while she tried to hide that she was seriously concerned about her leaking out. But they sang and tried to comfort each other. Katniss with her clear alto and Peeta with his off-key baritone. 

"Used to laugh and call him names 

They never let poor Rudolph 

Join in any reindeer games." 

2015, December the 22nd, later at the afternoon, somewhere in the State of Panem (Nobody knows where exactly but everyone hopes it’s near district 12), North America 

"Peeta, have I ever told you how much I love you?" Katniss mumbled from the backseat, engulfed in a sleeping bag, two blankets and an old raincoat which smelled moldy. They had been happy to notice how crammed their car was. They needed every bit of warmth for Katniss’s body. 

"Hey, what’s that, sweetheart?" Peeta tried to joke. "For months I’ve been waiting for you to declare your undying love and now you start doing it? Who are you and where is my beautiful but not very emotional girlfriend?" Peeta tried to turn around even when his left knee told him to stop this nonsense, immediately. 

Peeta couldn’t see very much in the rearview mirror. But he could hear well enough to tell that her breathing has changed. "Katniss if you were having contractions you would be able to tell, right?" If he could only hold her hand, then he’d know for sure. 

“Maybe a little bit. But I am not sure yet.” She tried to reach his shoulder. “But they don’t come regularly.” 

“How would you know.” Peeta became agitated. “You don’t have a watch to look at.” He tried to turn in his seat, knees be damned. 

"Peeta, No. Peeta, don’t. I know that you hurt your knee. I heard it. Don’t turn around." Katniss persists stubbornly. "Its nothing. Just me - becoming emotional. Must be the hormones." 

"The hormones?" Peeta had a little trouble following her train of thought. 

"Yes, I think I am channeling a mommy." Katniss admitted. “You know like in those TV-Series when people start to act differently suddenly. Buffy style” 

"Channeling a mom? You mean like channel a ghost?" He inquired. 

"Huhu." Katniss voice sounded rather small. 

"Was that a ghost huhu or a yes huhu?" Peeta tried to joke. If he couldn’t help her by slipping into the back seat too, and holding her, holding her hand, he could at least try to lighten the mood. 

"What I wanted to say is," Katniss took a deep breath, "and please don’t try to interrupt me till I am finished. I have loved you from the start. You always thought it was the cheese buns or those sweet little drawings you doodled on the paper napkins in the cafeteria. But that wasn’t it. It has always been you. The way you look at someone, look at me, the way you enjoy a cup of tea, or an orange. Piece by piece. Regardful. The way how you notice what someone needs, even when he - or me for example - don’t know it. I have loved you from day one. Only my mind didn’t know it immediately. My heart knew, my brain just needed some time." 

"Katniss, is this real?" She could hear that he was having trouble clearing his throat. "You are not telling me this because you are afraid that we won’t survive, are you?" 

"Maybe, but I love you, that is real." Her voice, steady just a minute ago now started to sound small again. 

"Katniss. We will survive. We will become parents in soon. Prim will be your doctor, your midwife, your sister. You name it, she will be there with us. And I will never, ever leave your side." Peeta took a deep breath. 

"But what is with your knee?" Katniss asked. "It’s your bad one. And now it’s hurt again." 

"Don’t worry. Only a contusion," Peeta assured her. 

"But I needed to tell you how I feel not only because I was afraid." Katniss continued. "I needed to tell you because I never really did before. And I am thinking now is a good time. And because I think it is important to hear it, I mean important for you. And important for me to tell you. And because you mother is an old hag. Has always been one and will always be one, to not honor what a wonderful man you are. You will be such a super dad. The best, and I want to become a good mother - not such a bitch. …. Not such a mean bitch." 

Peeta needed some minutes to digest her emotional outburst. "Katniss, this is only you channelling a mom, isn't it? You will be the best mom ever, I promise. …. Katniss? …… Katniss? Silence. He turned around slowly. Katniss had fallen asleep, her soft breathing a promise to him that everything would be alright. And he was alone with his memories about the few last weeks. His mother's change in attitude when Katniss came home saying that her obstetrician had been almost sure that they were having a baby boy. Katniss had told his mother that Effie had told her that 'It was either a boy or a bit of the umbilical cord.' He and Katniss hadn't thought about it. They hadn't bought clothes or other baby outfits that were gender-specific. But his mother thought otherwise. 

First of all, she started by attempting to ban Katniss from the bakery. She told her it would be too stressful and her presence would be abominable. Katniss tried to stay in the apartment the whole time, to wait for the dust to settle. But to his mother that wasn’t enough. She didn’t want the dust to settle - she was determined to remove Katniss from their lives. So his mother continued with her not so subtle hints that other mothers had more beautiful daughters to get pregnant. Her attempts to ask every blond woman between 18 and 30 years who came into the bakery if they were single. The customers started to speak behind Katniss’s back about her not being faithful to Peeta so his mother had to search for another wife. Katniss got asked if she had lately visited her cousin in Seam when she left the apartment to go for a walk. Because it would be a shame if he, her cousin, a least didn’t know that he was becoming a father and Peeta Mellark of all men would be raising his son. Add to it all the name calling. Peeta knew the reason for his mother’s behavior. It was him. He knew that his mother had singled out Katniss as the only person who would stand up for him and decided that she had to be eliminated. Especially now, when it seemed to be official that they wouldn’t be having a baby girl. 

All that lead to him telling his mother that he was quitting working in the bakery. No longer staying in the apartment over the bakery with Katniss. And that he didn't want any contact with her again in the near future. And so they had left, with only their bags of clothes, and rented out the small apartment Haymitch had suggested as a temporary solution until they could decide how to carry on. 

2015, December the 22nd, around 5 pm, somewhere in the State of Panem hopefully near district 12, North America 

Never before had Peeta been so relieved. 

"We are out of gas," he whispered to Prim when he lowered his side window. "And Katniss fell asleep half an hour ago. She hasn’t had enough water during our drive. Gas stations have been closed during the storm. She hasn’t needed to pee in the last couple of hours. I am really afraid because she has to use the bathroom at least every other hour at home. I am pretty sure she is losing amniotic fluid. And she mentioned contractions." 

"Hhmm, dehydrated, losing amniotic fluid, contractions. We have to get Katniss and you to safety right now.” 

Prim manipulated under her hood and Peeta could now see that she was using some kind of bluetooth headset. “Ok Joe, change of plans. Haul us out. I am staying in the car.” She listened to something Joe said. “Yes, notify the others. We need everything for two patients. Katniss is dehydrated and in labor. Peeta has hurt his knee. It is pretty badly swollen.” 

Peeta was surprised. “How did you know?” 

“You’re sitting in the front seat without body contact with Katniss. Your knee has the size of a small melon and you’ve grabbed it at least twice in the last 5 minutes. We are going to haul you out of the snow drift and then we’ll tow you to our houses," Prim assured him. “I’ll sit with Katniss while you steer.” Prim opened the back door behind the driver's seat, climbed in and closed the door. 

Peeta noticed a small person jumping out of the large vehicle which had cleared the road while he and Prim spoke. A tow had been attached to their car. The person climbed back into the snow plow. 

It happened so fast and efficiently that he asked himself if they had to do this daily. 

"Joe, you can start. I’ll stay inside and pay attention to Katniss. She might wake up during our trip and I want to monitor her and try to give her some of this water." Prim pulled out a small sports bottle. 

Seconds later they both felt the motion and a large electric kind-of-jeep vehicle, which was indeed some kind of snowplow made by a creative forger, hauled their car the whole way to Prim’s house. 

She felt for Katniss forehead and pulse while she kneeled in front of the back seat. Katniss stirred and opened her eyes. “Prim is that you?” 

“Who else, big sis? Couldn’t wait for you, so I thought why not send a welcome party and participate.” 

“Prim, I’m in labor. The contractions are not regular now, but they’re coming. Oh, and I have lost some amniotic fluid.” 

“I know. Peeta told me. Piece of cake. We’ll get the both of you to safety in no time. And in a few hours you will be parents. And I will be an aunt. Isn’t that amazing? Think of it Aunt Primrose. Sounds great, huh? Better than Aunt Duck!” Prim joked. 

“You know what even sounds better?” Katniss teased. “Home!” 

Fortunately, it wasn’t a long drive. The app hadn't been wrong. The houses, Prim’s and that of her friends, lay idyllically on the top of a small hill. The road was at the bottom of said hill. Between the houses and the road was a copse of fir trees. Even without the snow storm they wouldn't have seen the houses. 

But as the car was towed up the hill in a long winded curve, Peeta could see them. See the large log houses in all their glory. Prim had told them about the houses over the phone. 

A settlement of almost a dozen houses, every window in every house illuminated with fairy lights and festive with Christmas decorations for the upcoming holidays. Wreaths of spruce, red ribbons, glass balls and festive ornaments everywhere. 

Too bad Katniss couldn’t see it better. She had trouble lifting her head as Peeta peeled her out of the cocoon of blankets and the sleeping bag. But when she was able to come outside with him, he would show her the breathtaking sight. 

They had reached the front of the largest building where they were greeted by Thresh, Prim’s boyfriend, who immediately started to help Peeta with carrying Katniss like she didn’t weigh more than a child. And suddenly, there was help with their belongings, few that there were, from Joe, the snow plow driver, who was a young woman. 

When they entered the house, they met the other occupants. Mags, who had drawn a warm bath for Katniss in the bathroom adjoining the bedroom that had been prepared for them. Annie, who had prepared the bed for Katniss and was now carrying a tray with supplies for Prim who wanted to put Katniss on a drip for fluids. Rue, a young girl who brought a tray with hot tea and some Christmas cookies for Peeta. And last but not least Greasy Sae, who announced that she had put the lasagna back into the oven where it could stay warm till someone wanted to eat – No thanks necessary. But, please, to cover it with the foil again so it wouldn’t get dry. 

Everyone was busy, but no one was hectic. Peeta thought they must do this frequently. Did they? He had never asked what Prims friends did for the living, something he would do later. 

2015, December the 23rd, around 7 am, Hope settlement, district 12, North America 

“So, when I saw your mother the first time, she was singing in a choir in front of all the children of the children's hospital in District 11. And would you believe it when I tell you that it was on exactly this day December the 23rd, 2 years ago?” Peeta told the tiny baby girl in his arms, hushed. “I heard her voice first, like an angel, and looked for her. And when I saw her I knew that I was a goner.” 

“Like now?” Katniss whispered and opened her eyes after her nap. 

“Yes”, Peeta answered and palmed Katniss face with his right hand. “Like right now.” 

Fin. 


End file.
